Technically/scientifically the Pacific salmon and trouts are in the same genus Oncorhynchus; they're all pretty closely related. The distinction that we make between 'salmon' and 'trouts' is rather artificial, and a holdover from when salmon and trouts were considered separate genera (Oncorhynchus and Salmo). That all changed back in the 80s I believe. The technician was not wrong.

The low runs on Vancouver Is streams have been going on for a number of years now, in fact for about as long as Puget Sound native steelhead runs have been in decline. A few years ago, there was a distinct difference in run sizes between island streams that flowed west, discharging onto the continental shelf and those flowing east, discharging to the Sound (Strait of Georgia). Back then the run data strongly suggested that something was going on in the Sound that was not favoring steelhead survival. I'm don't know whether this distinction is still showing in island streams or whether all of the runs are showing declines.

Although logging on the island has been extensive, has anyone looked at the degree of logging in each separate watershed and comparing this to indivudual run sizes? Seems to me such a watershed analysis could determine if logging is THE MAJOR contributor or just another contributor to the decline. I do wonder. Coho salmon also over winter in streams, most spending from 1.5 to 2 years in freshwater before outmigrating, but the coho numbers do not seem to be declining like the steelhead. In fact, coho are booming in some Puget Sound streams.

And if its the net pens, wouldn't they affect all of the species as well? Juvenile chinook spend a great deal more time in estuaries than steelhead, so could have higher exposure levels to the pens and associated diseases. Then again, steelhead smolts are larger and not as shoreline oriented so may attract the parasites. But coho are also larger and behave in much the same manner. Big mystery.

I hope Canada pours some money into this. It's not only a serious problem, but solving it could tease out some answers to some pretty important questions regarding the early survival of salmon and steelhead.